Overview

Position: RB

College: Oregon

Class: Junior

Age: 21

 

Measurables

Height: 5’9 1/2″

Weight: 205 lbs.

Arm length: 29 3/4″

Hand size: 9 1/2″

 

Athletic testing

40-yard dash: 4.55 sec.

10-yard split: 1.62 sec.

Vertical jump: N/A

Broad jump: 117.0”

Bench press: N/A

3-cone drill: N/A

Short shuttle: N/A

 

Strengths

Outstanding instincts as a runner. Excellent vision and decisiveness. Very physical runner. Runs low with tremendous balance. No-nonsense style and gets downhill. Quick and very decisive. Wastes no time getting through the hole. Consistently picks up positive yardage by following his blocking. Slashing runner between the tackles. Bounces off tackles up the middle. Uses spins to break/evade tackles and keep moving. Tough to square up going downhill. Doesn’t go down easily. Lowers his shoulder versus linebackers. Powers ahead and covers up the ball. Instinctive to avoid backfield penetration. Combines patience and decisiveness to wait for a small crease to open and will capitalize on it. Exceptional quickness stringing multiple cuts together. Very quick feet as a one-cut runner. Great ability to cut into a crease and get on the rush path. Keeps his eyes up into a crowd and will recognize an opportunity to bounce a run late. Follows his blockers with good cutback feel on outside runs. Will use burst to get to the edge when bouncing runs. Quick stiff arm. Instinctive to get out of trouble with a backside cut when defenders overpursue. Effective as a goal-line back in heavy personnel. Urgent getting out of the backfield to run routes. Soft hands in the flat. Great hands to reach for passes around his head. Fast on wheel routes. Saw snaps outside the numbers. Quick getting out on routes with no responsibility in pass protection. Very good overall pass blocker. Will stick his nose in to take on aggressive blitzers. Effective on cut blocks in pass protection.

 

Weaknesses

Average speed and explosiveness. Lack of top acceleration allows defenders to close on the second level before he can break into space. Sometimes would like to see slightly more patience with an inside cut for a hole that develops late. Lacks ball-carrier moves and elusiveness/shake to make defenders miss in the open field. Will cutback into defenders outside the numbers rather than trying to get down the sideline (perhaps due to knowing he won’t get the angle with his speed).

 

NFL comparison

Rico Dowdle

 

Conclusion

Overall, James is a physical, hard-nosed runner with an excellent combination of vision, instincts, and decisiveness. The lack of speed and big-play ability might limit his upside, but James can be very productive in the right situation.

 

Big Board ranking: #84 | Positional ranking: #12